Feeder for elongated cylinderlike objects



prll 21, 1953 l. F. STEWART ETAL FEEDER FOR ELONGATED CYLINDERLIKEOBJECTS Filed April 25, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet l DONALD GEORGE ASHCROFT MMVAttorneys prl 2l, 1953 l. F. STEWART ETAL 2,635,261

FEEDER FOR ELONGATED CYLINDERLIKE OBJECTS Filed April 25, 1949 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventors IAN FRASER STEWART DONALD GEORGE ASHCROFT@OMMVMM Aorneys April 2l, 1953 l. F. STEWART ErAL 2,635,261

FEEDER EDR ELoNGATED CYLINDERLIKE OBJECTS Filed April 25, 1949 3Sheets-Sheet 5 Inventors IAN FRASER STEWART DONALD GEoRrE AsHoRoFTMMM/@www Aitorneys Patented Apr. 21, 1953 FEEDER FOR ELONGATEDCYLINDERLIKE OBJECTS Ian F. Stewart, Kilwinning, and Donald G. Ashcroft,Saltcoats, Scotland, assignors to Imperial Chemical Industries Limited,a corporation of Great Britain Application April 25, 1949, Serial No.89,456 In Great Britain May 3, 1948 2 Claims.

The present invention relates to a feeder for elongated cylinder-likeobjects, as for example tubes. cylindrical rods, and articles of othercross-sectional form as well as articles the crosssection of whichvaries along their length.

The object of the present invention is to provide a machine of theaforesaid kind particularly adapted for delivering articles ofrelatively greater length than width and of substantially straightlongitudinal axis one behind the other in the direction of theirlongitudinal axis.

According to the present invention the machine particularly adapted fordelivering articles of relatively greater length than width and ofsubstantially straight longitudinal axis one behind the other in thedirection of their longitudinal axis consists of a casing for receivingtherein a bulk supply of said articles, said casing consisting of atleast one unit, each unit comprising at least one lower terminal narrowelongated opening which is closed by a moving member provided with atleast one groove of a width to `permit only one row of said articles tolie therein, the groove in one position being at an angle to cause thearticles collected therein to discharge into an orice in a predeterminedposition independent of said groove.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention a machineparticularly adapted for delivering articles of relatively greaterlength than width and of substantially straight longitudinal axis onebehind the other in the direction of their longitudinal axis consists ofa casing for receiving therein a bulk supply of said articles to a depthnot exceeding a predetermined level, said casing consisting of at leastone unit, each unit comprising at least one base portion having a slotflanked on each side thereof by a vertical wall, the said walls beingparallel to one another, extending vertically upwards to meet a surfacewhich slopes downwards towards said slot and a blade of thicknessapproaching the width of the slot and having a groove along its upperedge and adapted to move vertically up and down through said slot, saidgroove being of a width to permit only one row of said articles to lietherein, and said unit having at least one discharge opening positionedin a wall thereof above said predetermined level and in alignment withthe said groove for a position of said blade above said predeterminedlevel, the groove in this position being at an angle to cause thearticles collected therein to discharge through said opening.

In accordance with this embodiment of the invention the machine dependsupon the action of4 a thin grooved blade held vertically with a grooveon its upper edge at any suitable angle which may be fixed or variablebut is always subject to mechanical control. The blade is movable in avertical direction so that its grooved top is permitted to be submergedin a mass of articles of the kind defined delivered into the hopper ofthe machine. The blade is then allowed to rise through the mass ofarticles to permit the groove to catch some of the articles in itsdepression. When the grooved top is above the mass of articles thearticles collected in the depression are allowed to pass into, forexample, a collector pipe by arranging the grooved edge to have therequired inclination in this position. The articles collected in thedepression are caused to slide down the groove and into the pipe whichis appropriately placed to catch the iiow of articles. After thearticles have been thus delivered, the blade returns to its lowestposition beneath the mass of articles and the cycle of operations isrepeated. In accordance with this embodiment the vertically held bladeor plate may either be a vertically reciproeating blade or plate or aswinging blade or plate.

The reciprocating blade in a machine constructed in accordance with thisembodiment picks up the articles of the kind defined by vertical thrustthrough a random heap of said articles. The reciprocating blade thenretracts through the articles to the bottom dead centre to be able torepeat the thrust. At said bottom dead centre the relatively deep grooveformed by the sloping walls and the groove of the blade helps to line upthe articles for their more eiiicient lifting.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention a machineparticularly adapted for delivering articles of relatively greaterlength than width and of substantially straight longitudinal axis onebehind the other in the direction of their longitudinal axis consists ofa casing for receiving therein a bulk supply of said articles, saidcasing consisting of at least one unit, each unit comprising a topreceiving portion the floor of which slopes from one side downwards tomeet a vertical wall, a lower terminal narrow elongated opening below avertical slot formed by said wall and another vertical wall, and acircular disc adapted to rotate in a vertical plane so that a risingportion thereof is constrained to move in said slot and to occupysubstantially the full width of its gap, said slot extending verticallydownwards to such a depth that its lower terminal gap is always closedby a portion of the disc, said circular disc having at least one` groovecontained between planes at right angles to the.

side of the Idisc, and said groove being of a width to permit only onerow of said articles to lie therein and being so positioned to be in oneposition during the rotation of the disc at an angle tocausezqthearticles. collected therein' to. discharge eventually' into=an oricefin a predeter# mined position independent of said groove.

In accordance with this second embodiment of!Y the invention the machinemay-.- take. the...form.

of a wheel with grooved strips positioned on.l

one or both of its sides. On the other ,hand the wheel may take thefor-miciadisc' havingY apertures cut out therein and withl'gro'oves onthe advancing face of each ofl'these apertures; In this embodiment theWheel may be given a steady rotating motion. Irr..contradistinctiori` tothe reciprocating blade embodiment vwhich has a waste period during itsretraction. val1 the movement of the rotating disc may be utilisedforthe picking up of the articles. Furthermore, in accordance with thissecondembodiment of the" invention the'groove-or `grooves provided inthe rotatingy disc or wheelpiol; up articles which have'been alreadylined' up; This lining up is due' tothe tubesdropping into thespacevbetween the' adjacent floor walls when the top of this spacev is opened`byVVA the upward passage ofthe preceding sp'okecof theapertured discv orwheel. Thispre'hlining upv of` the articles is a fundamental action of'the machine constructed in accordancewitlrV the second embodiment. Thepre-lining'V also t'endsftcpermit more articles to befdischarged-'in'agiven time. Again, the Aerrtire cycle of operations; ii e; from onepickA up' by av spoke to" thep'icl upby the nextl spoke in theapertured'wheel, is` used 1goI carry' out useful work'asthereisrio-retraction Furthermore, as the wheel isv alwaysrising'through the mass of'articles they tend-'to beY more gentlyhandled. Also the eiiiciency of'A operati-Onis undiminished as the'hopper oor is cleared. A` machine con'- structed inaccordancewith" thersecond embodi-f ment" may also" be of" smaller design than onekconstructedin accordance with; the rstembodiment.. Onthe other hand,vthe smaller holding capacity Aofl the? second embodiment relative tothat ofthe. first'embodirnent, makes it necessary toV keep it filledbyr'the provision of a. bucket conveyor or. other llingfmeans.

The invention is. illustrated byy way of example with reference to thediagrammatic drawings faccompanying,nthespecification whereoff Figs.1,1. 2"and`3 illustrate oneembodir'nent' of the invention and Figs. 4'and" 5 illustrate another embodimentI of. theL invention. Fig. 1r is. afront elevation. of a.. machine according tothe rst embodimentA of"thednvention. and.. particularly suitable-.for the .deliveryof..detonater tubes and Fig..2. is a. side elevation of part ofjthe.machine on. the line A-A. of Fig.. l looking in thev direction of. the.arrow.. Fig. .3 is an. isometric. View .of thetwo. units,V I` in Fig...1'... Fig..4. isan isometric view of amachine. accordingv to the secondem.- bodiment of thev inventionand. particularly suitableforthe'delivery of= detonator tubes and Fig. 5 isafront sectional viewof.the. twov units of the casing illustratedz i-rrlfig. 4.Ihef-samefreference numerals. vrefer to like.4 parts throughout.k

Referring toA the. drawings,1Figs. 1,?2' and 3, I is a unitv inthecasing of.y the machine'. two suchv units being; shown; Each unit I.comprises at least4 .one base portion 2 each havingv aslot. 3, ankedon'. each side. thereof. by a vertical wall 4'; these:sidewalls."being:Jparallel tof one.y another face 5 which slopes downwards towards saidslot 3, and a plate 6 of a thickness approaching the width 8 of the slot3 and having a groove 'I along its upper edge and adapted to move upand. down. through said" slot 3 said groove l bein'g lof a widthtopermit only' one'rowy of tubes 9 to lie therein. Each unit I has adischarge opening It positioned in a wall II thereof above the.predetermined-.level I2 above which the top surface of' the bulk supplyof tubes 9 is not permitted to exceed. The discharge opening III is inalignmentvwith the collector pipe I3. When the groove -T is at itshighest position I4 it is in alignment with the discharge opening IIJand the collector'pipe I3 and so the row of tubes 9 collectedin-ythegroove I flow out of the discharge opening It. into the collectorpipe I3. When the plate 6. is in its lowest position I5 its groove 'Iforms" a deep groove I with the two sloping surfaces 5.

' The driving gear/for'this embodiment ofv the invention comprises-acommon drive shaft VI which carries al series of worinsl I8 each ofwhich drivesone set of operating gear. The Worm i8 drives the wormwheely l5' the shat 20' of which extends to both sides;` Each end of theshaft 25 is provided with a crankV 2|. The rotation of theucra-nk pins22v is-V translated into vertical reciprocating motion of the bridles'23 through the' medium' of theI forked connecting rods 2.4.

1t isv foundA that detonator tubesV delivered by this machine-arei'n noway damaged orr scratched'.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 5. 25 is a casing.` 26 is a bulk supply oftubes, 2lr is one complete unit' and 2'!" is a unit showing a cut awayportion. The unit 2l comprises atop receiving portion '28, the floor 29of which slopes downwards to meet a vertical slot 39; 3l'v is a circulardisc having apertures 3'2 cut out therein with grooves 33 on theadvancing face of eachof the aper tures 32. The groove 33Y is of a'widthl 34 to permit only onerow 35 oftubes ZIito-lie-therein.A Each`groove is so positioned once during4V the rotation of the disc 3lV thatit is at an angle to' causeV the row 35l`r of tubes' collectedl thereinto` discharge eventuallyinto the orifice :i6-fof; the collector pipe 37.38 ris'the lowerl terminal gap of the vertical slot 3Q. 139 isa curveddefl'ector plate provided attheend'of' each groove 33"and is' soKL setthat when. the` groove 33v i's'in align'- ment with. the orice 36 therow of tubes'35. will slide downwards" andbe guided ofi the groove 3?.into" the'orice 36; di) is' the axle' ofithe' disc 3|. 4I. are thespokesof the' disc 3I.

Referring particularly toFi'g. 5 the left hand unit shown therein showsthe spoke 4I which'i's in the upper position carrying a row of tubes 35in its groovey 3'3". When. this upper spoke ll-II reaches the positionshown. in the right. hand unit illustrated in Fig...5"some of. the bulksupply of tubes 26 are.abletodrop'intothe vertical.- slot. 30 so-as tofallinto the groove 33 of the following spoke. 4I shown in` thepositionwhere it, has entered andi closed theflowery terminalgap 38;

Detonator tubes delivered bythis. machine: are. found to be in hof-waydamaged or scratched.v

We claim:

1. A machine particularly adapted for deliver'= ing articles ofrelatively greater length, than.. width and. of a substantially straightlongitur. dinal aXis aligned: oneA behind the other'. in the. direction:of. their longitudinal axis' consisting. of a'. casingv for receivingthereinabulk'. supply of.

and extendingvertically-upwardstormeetiasursaidlartiCleasaidacasing,consistingiotatileastona unit, eachunit comprising an article receiving means the oor of which slopes fromone side downwardly at an angle to the horizontal and terminates in adownwardly extending vertical wall, a second wall parallel to said rstvertical wall and spaced therefrom a distance not materially greaterthan the Width of the articles to be delivered to provide said articleswith a preliminary orientation, a disc adapted to rotate in a verticalplane with a minor portion thereof extending in the space between saidwalls and positioned with respect to the casing so that the terminatingedge of the sloping floor of the casing is approximately on a line withthe horizontal diameter of the disc, the thickness of said disc beingsubstantially equal to the distance between said walls, and a pluralityof substantially radially extending arms bounding recesses in said disc,said arms being spaced apart a distance such that when the rearextremity of one of the said arms clears the terminating edge of thesloping floor of the casing, the following arm is in a position closelyapproaching the horizontal, said recesses being of a depth and width notappreciably greater than the width of the articles to be receivedtherein and being thereby adapted to receive articles and orient themduring the upward passage of said recesses between said vertical wallsand further being adapted to discharge said oriented articles by gravityinto a receiving means which maintains said orientation.

2. A machine particularly adapted for delivering articles of relativelygreater length than width and of a substantially straight longitudinallyaxis aligned one behind the other in the direction of their longitudinalaxis as set forth in claim 1 wherein the discharge end of each groove isprovided with a deector guide adapted to direct the articles to the sideof said disc member for delivering to said receiving means.

IAN F. STEWART. DONALD G. ASHCROFT.

References Cited in the ille of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 594,457 Campbell Nov. 30, 1897 611,604 Campbell Oct. 4, 1898678,827 Morris July 16, 1901 1,536,833 Fagan et al May 5, 1925 1,600,238McCain Sept. 21, 1926 1,718,166 McCain June 8, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTSNumber Country Date 409,952 France Jan. 1, 1918

